Wouxun Memory Loss Fix

Interesting...

Replacing the surface mounted 24C64 eeprom to fix the memory loss problem:

"I have the KG-UV2D radio at work; connected to a battery eliminator (in place of the battery) - which is connected to a 12vdc source and an external antenna. The reason I went into detail about this is because every evening when I power-down my work bench for the night - the12vdc source that runs the radio is also powered down. So, I am completely removing the power source from the radio every night - with the radio sitting dead for 12 hours before being powered back up again (and it's even for longer over the weekend). It's been 2 weeks since the repair, and my Wouxun has kept it's memory programming; without the slightest burp."

Via AmateurRadio.com

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Ed Drops A Bomb!

Wow! Wow. Just wow. I got the following e-mail from Ed:

Dear Customer,

Here is the latest news on Chinese dual-band mobile radios.

Wouxun Dual Band Mobile  -  KG-UV920R

On June 21 I was informed that Wouxun would supply a small number of these radios to selected dealers (max of 10).  At that time they also quoted a dealer costs that I thought was outrageous.  The dealer costs was almost what I have always considered the retail price would be.  In an email I told them sternly that with any dealer markup at all, the radio would not sell in the US and I would decline to purchase samples.

Wouxun response was that when full production began, the dealer costs would be lower.  Since I've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars building a market for this company over the past few years, I decided I would not let others bring this radio to market before I did.  I reluctantly placed an order for 10 radios, figuring I would sell them at costs, to get them to market.

After my order was shipped, Wouxun informed me that these sample radios must NOT be sold for less than $320-$330.  They went on to say "If we found you or your dealer's end price was lower this range without our permission in advance, then we will stop supplying this model to you."

For the past two years, I've repeatedly told Wouxun that this radio must sell for no more than $250-$275 for it to be competitive with the big three Japanese companies.  It appears this advice has fallen on deaf ears.

These pre-production radios lack some of the features the full-production radios will have.  These will not be FCC Certified for Part 90 use.  They will have narrow band capability but will not have the 2.5 kHz tuning step required for Part 90 radios beginning in 2013.  The frequency range will be RX:136-174 & 350-480 and TX: 136-174 & 400-480.  They did not indicate if any wide-band receive, such as 118 MHz AM, would be available on these pre-production models.

Although these radios may lack some of the bells and whistles we've expected, I imagine they will still be good dual band radios for the ham market.  BUT, I still don't feel they are worth $325.

Wouxun says I can't sell these for less than $325.  They did not say that I can not include a FREE HT with the purchase.  (Rest assured, they will raise holy crap about it, but I'm used to that)  So here's my plan.  I will place the limited number I have on sale for $350 and include a free KG-UV2D HT in the deal.  I'll profit nothing at this but we'll see what happens.

Anytone Dual Band Mobile  -  AT-588UV

For the past two years, I have consulted with Anytone as they developed their dual band mobile radio.  Anytone send a non-working model of the radio for me to show at the Dayton Hamvention (Wouxun would not send anything).  Anytone is now sending a working model (for free!) and says full production will begin in early August.  Anytone has quoted a price that lets me know this radio will retail in the $250-$275 range.  It will be Part 90 Certified and will have some wide-band receive ranges, including AM aircraft.  I look forward to working with this company and expect their mobile to be a big seller.

TYT Quad Band Mobile  -  TH-9800

This radio covers 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters and 440 (only FM mode).  TYT sent a semi-working model for me to show at Dayton.  It would light up with menus working and etc.  Those who played with the display said it is a clone of the Yaesu FT-8900.  I have a close contact at TYT and am told they are working hard to get this radio into production in October.

Conclusion

I will continue to do my best to bring quality made Chinese radios to the US market and will only send these emails when necessary.
This particular email is going to about 5,000 people so please don't expect a quick response if you send me a question.

Regards,
Ed Griffin
Wouxun.US  &  Import Communications
www.wouxun.us
www.importcommunications.com

My shooting from the hip response... Ed is fed up enough with Wouxun that he is will to stress the relationship, but he's not done that without a Plan B (name change to Import Communications, Baofeng, Anytone, TYT). It also makes me think that Wouxun may have done us a great service by leading the way, but they may price themselves out of the low cost market - then they will be competing with the big boys on performance and quality. I'm sure the message board will be hopping tonight. I'm going to bed, but there will be interesting reading in the morning I am sure! I'm gonna have to read up on the AT-588UV, too.

Wouxun KG-UV6D: FCC Update

There are some new entries on the FCC site for Quanzhou Wouxun Electronics Co., Ltd. (Go the the FFC site here and type WVT for Wouxun in the "Grantee Code" field to see all the files.) I was hoping to see a new entry for the KG-UV920R, but, alas, no. Looks like they want all models of their radios to share the same FCC ID. From the cover letter:

"We declared, added models KG-UVD1P, KG-UVD1P V2, KG-UV2D, KG-UV2D V2, KGUV3D, KG-UV3D V2, KG-UV5D, KG-UV5D V2, KG-UV6D V2, KG-UV6D-E, KG-UV6D-A, KG-UV6D-R, KG-UV6X, KG-UV7D, KG-UV7D V2, KG-UV8D, KG-UV8D V2, KG-UV9D, KG-UV9D V2, KG-UVA1, KG-UVA1 V2, KG-UVA2, KG-UVA2 V2 basis of the original models KG-UV6D. These models are identical circuit, PCB LAYOUT to the original model, only the appearance and name are different. All models sharing the same FCC ID without permissive change would be electrically identical."

Wouxun KG-UV6D: Three New Versions

Three new versions - exclusively from Ed at Import Communications:

ALL VERSIONS FEATURE:

• 199 Memory Channels
• RPT Button*
• Lockable S/D Button**
• Tuning Knob functions when Keypad is locked
• IP55 (Dust and Water Jets rating)
• Uses all the same accessories as the other Wouxun dual band radios
• Uses the same antenna connector as other Wouxun models. (Not all 6D's are like this)

*When in Frequency Mode, the RPT button will quickly cycle through SIMPLEX, +OFFSET, -OFFSET, +REVERSE and -REVERSE to access repeaters. It can also be programmed for other functions.
** With the radio in "single display" mode, and with the Keypad, MENU and S/D buttons locked, the end user will only be able to turn the radio on/off, change channels and talk. This is perfect for the non-radio user. Nothing they do will get them lost in menu-land.

VERSIONS ARE DETERMINED BY FREQUENCY RANGE & TUNING STEP

KG-UV6D-2.5 (full range coverage for public service) $175.00

• 2.5 Khz Tuning Step - compliant with new FCC rules for Land Mobile Service
• TX & RX - 136-174 & 420-520 (frequency range can not be changed by owner)

KG-UV6D-IC1 (full range receive, ham band transmit) $140.00

• 5 Khz Tuning Step - the standard for Amateur Radio
• RX - 136-174 & 420-520
• TX - 144-148 & 420-520 (frequency range can not be changed by owner)

KG-UV6D-IC2 (full range coverage for ham, MARS, public service) $150.00

• 5 Khz Tuning Step - the standard for Amateur Radio
• TX & RX - 136-174 & 420-520 (frequency range can not be changed by owner)

Wouxun and Baofeng Group Buy

Anyone interested in a group buy of the Wouxun or Baofeng should meander over to the World Wide DX forum.

Wouxun KG-UV6D: Expensive

Main Trading Company has the Wouxun KG-UV6D Dual Band radio, but it is $183. That still seems really high given the limited changes from the previous models. I will be curious to see what Ed's starting price is.

KG-UV Commander

Ed announced on the KG-UVD1 Yahoo group that Jim Mitchell, KC8UNJ, has released the KG-UV Commander software for programming the Wouxun handhelds.



David added some background about how it came to be:

"I was aware that Jim had developed programming software for certain Yaesu and Icom radios, so I contacted Jim last August, asking whether he would be possibly be interested in porting his software to the Wouxun radios. I told Jim that I had already prepared memory maps for the "tw" files and for the internal memory space of the radios (which I was making available to all who are interested). I was so pleased when Jim responded and said that he would be interested in porting his software.

I then discussed this project with Ed Griffin, proprietor of wouxun.us, and Ed very generously contributed radios for Jim to use in developing the software.

For the last eight months Jim has been working on this project, and a small group of beta testers have been playing with interim versions of the software and providing feedback to Jim. On April 30 Jim released a version which he is making available to the public.

The KG-UV Commander software is a very impressive package. I believe that it empowers the user to program literally every programmable feature of the Wouxun radios (including modifying band limits, which until now has required the separate unlock program). The Commander software reads and writes TW files, and also reads and writes CSV files (which are easy for Excel programmers and others to read and write for any future special programming applicatoins). And the program even reads ARRL TravelPlus frequency files! Furthermore, the program has a great user interface, and includes the normal spreadsheet editing features such as Add, Edit, Move, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, and Sort."

I must say the software is a huge leap forward. I needed to add some frequencies to mine, so this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. I had an Excel spreadsheet with some data I wanted to copy over. It wouldn't let me do multiple rows at once - in fact, it was like the app wasn't taking the latest information from the Windows clipboard. I ended up adding the entires manually, but with the auto-offset feature enabled, it just took a minute to do it.

The sort works great - you can sort all the entries or just select a few rows. I used that feature to keep my favorites at the top of the list and independent of all the others that I just wanted sorted by frequency.

There is also a function to search for duplicates. The search is really slick. You can tell it to ignore duplicate frequencies if one entry has a tone configured while the other does not.

The software really levels the playing field with the big boys. It reminds me of the software I have for my VX-3R.

Jim did a great job and this is just another example of how Ed continues to support the community and why he will get my business/endorsement.